Shloka 38

Sainyasaṅgraha and Bhāga-Vyavasthā (Forces Assembled and Rival Allocations) | सैन्यसंग्रह-भागव्यवस्था

Devanagari script

सुतेजसो महेष्वासानिन्द्रोडपि सहितो<मरै: । अशक्त: समरे जेतुं कि पुनस्तात पाण्डवा:

Transliteration

Sutejaso maheṣvāsān indro 'pi sahito 'maraiḥ | aśaktaḥ samare jetuṃ ki punaḥ tāta pāṇḍavāḥ ||

Translation

Duryodhana sprach: „Selbst Indra, auch wenn ihn die Götter begleiten, wäre außerstande, diese strahlenden, mächtigen Bogenschützen in der Schlacht zu besiegen — wie viel weniger, Vater, könnten es die Pāṇḍavas.“

Word by Word

• {'sutejasaḥ': 'of great splendor/energy

• highly radiant, powerful', 'maheṣvāsān': 'great archers

• those wielding mighty bows', 'indraḥ': 'Indra, king of the gods', 'api': 'even, also', 'sahitaḥ': 'accompanied by, together with', 'amaraiḥ': 'with the immortals (gods)', 'aśaktaḥ': 'unable, not capable', 'samare': 'in battle, in war', 'jetum': 'to conquer, to defeat', 'ki punaḥ': 'how much more/less

• all the more so', 'tāta': 'dear one/son

• an address of affection or familiarity', 'pāṇḍavāḥ': 'the sons of Pāṇḍu

Speaker

दुर्योधन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Duryodhana
• Indra
• Amaras (the gods)
• Pandavas
• Bhishma
• Drona
• Kripa
• Karna
• Jayadratha
• Somadatta
• Ashvatthama

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse illustrates how pride and overreliance on force can distort judgment: Duryodhana equates victory with superior warriors and dismisses the ethical dimension (dharma), a mindset that the epic repeatedly shows to be spiritually and politically ruinous.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Udyoga Parva, as war becomes imminent, Duryodhana argues for confidence in the Kaurava camp by praising his champions as unconquerable—so formidable that even Indra with the gods could not defeat them—thereby belittling the Pandavas’ chances.